New York, New York

Jeff Walton of the Institute on Religion and Democracy has posted an interesting piece at Juicy Ecumenism that says a lot about the leadership of the Episcopal Church. Long after the headquarters of the other large mainline denominations were moved out of New York City as a cost-saving measure, and on the eve of the departure of the National Council of Churches to new digs at Democratic Party HQ the Methodist Building in Washington, TEC’s leadership is digging in its heels:

An Episcopal Church executive oversight group has unanimously recommended against re-locating the denomination’s headquarters from New York City, citing “justice concerns” among the chief reasons to remain at the church’s pricey Manhattan mid-rise.

“Justice concerns”? Are they worried that they will have to treat their maintenance and janitorial staff fairly? Oh, no, they’re talking about politics:

Specific among the concerns were states with “regressive immigration laws, laws banning marriage equality, and laws that encourage gun violence.”

Someone should point out to them that, from their own perspective, they live in a country with “regressive immigration laws, laws banning marriage equality, and laws that encourage gun violence.” Maybe they’d be more happy moving to Venezuela, or Cuba, or any of the other left-wing paradises they’ve lauded for years.

Among the 15 cities examined for a potential future headquarters were New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Minneapolis, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale and Cincinnati. Eighty percent of Episcopal Church attendees live in the Eastern and Central time zones, with the report noting that the church’s population center is gradually shifting southward.

“As leaders in the Church, we have a particular concern about the effect on our witness on the issue of marriage equality when some married persons employed by us would be forced to make a choice between keeping their jobs and having their marriages recognized,” the report stated. The report also bemoaned substituting lower-paid replacements for a large part of the staff.

Hmm. Kind of makes you wonder why it was OK to be ensconced in the Big Apple for all those years when New York State was a homophobic nightmare, doesn’t it? Hey, and what about TEC’s traditional support of unions? Would they go to a right-to-work state? Oh, wait…

“New York, Washington, and Boston pose no public policy concerns,” The report summarized. “All other potential locations examined pose public policy issues that would have to be taken into account.”

No doubt. Why don’t they just come out and say the obvious: the staff and leadership at 815 are, wherever they were from originally, now confirmed tony Gothamites, and couldn’t bear to even consider living in fly-over country with the Great Unwashed. Heck, if they did that, they might even suffer the indignity of running into one of those Neanderthals they’re suing.

“Laws that encourage gun violence?” So TEC Central thinks that North Carolina’s concealed carry laws are for the purpose of encouraging the law-abiding to go shooting people? Actually, they are intended to allow the law-abiding to defend themselves if seriously threatened. If TEC Central thinks that’s a bad idea, they should stay away from our state.

So the missionary impulse is truly dead in the episcopal church. If they really cared about the people living in darkness in the middle of the country they would relocate the headquarters. That way the national church employees could serve as salt and light to the flyover states.

Then again, given the current policies on nutrition and climate change, perhaps they are withholding the salt and light for the good of the planet?

Navin R. Johnson: How ‘bout you, sir? Step right up!
Carnival Rube: Hey honey, let’s see how good this guy is. Now what do I win?
Navin R. Johnson: Ah, anything… in this general area, right in here. Anything, below the stereo, and on this side of the Bicentennial glasses. Anything between the ashtray, and the thimbles. Anything in this three inches. Right in here, in this area, that includes the Chiclets, but not the erasers.

So they’re so very concerned about states with “regressive immigration laws, laws banning marriage equality, and laws that encourage gun violence.” I’ll bet they’re not concerned about states with the least restrictive abortion laws, or states that allow assisted suicide.

The further they are away from me the better. I’d tell them they’re absolutely right that everywhere outside Manhattan is sickeningly filled with gun totin’, homophobic, racist rednecks.

Now the subject has been raised, it’s surely a concern that straw chewin’, country lovin’, NRA members can actually still travel to New York. How safe is the old HQ when bigots can still get in their cars and visit. Has a foreign location been considered?

Why not relocate to the gambling dens and fleshpots of Nevada? Wouldn’t KJS and Beers be at home in the physical as well as theological deserts? On second thoughts, perhaps not - there is that local issue of the connivance and participation in placing child offenders in charge of children which might just make it a little hot for KJS.

I suspect the truth is that 815 is mortgaged up to the hilt paying to keep Beers and his partners in booze, and selling the security would show how overvalued the security is - probably bringing the whole thing tumbling down. Security maintenance clause anyone?

I’m thinking Caracas might be a good place. They have lots of high rise buildings in the central city, and it’s just on the south side of the gulf of Mexico. And with El Comandante gone, Katie might fit right in!
And stay away from Seattle! I live near there!
Jim of Olym

I hear there’s this place in Rome (Italy) that’s got an opening right now, if the Presiding Bishop hurries

But since TEC likes reminding us of “the Episcopal Church’s 2.4 million members in 16 countries and 110 dioceses”, why not consider moving to one of those fifteen other countries? If they’re serious about all that global action and so forth, why not move the headquarters out of the U.S.A. altogether to a cheaper locale in South America?

At least it would mean that the next time they’re having a synod (or whatever the term is when the bigwigs fly down to one of the Latin countries to grace the natives with their presence), they wouldn’t have the cost of airfare and hotel accommodation to consider.

I don’t know, it’s kinda affirmin’ to know that we ain’t 815’s “type.” I’d say more, but I gotta get my gun and shoot some squirrels for dinner; the little woman’s in the kitchen right now waitin’ for me; i just hope they ain’t no Nancy boys in my field when I head out; but, I guess if I need some help, I’ll just round me up some illegals.

Their attempt to be PC and not hypocritical is only overshadowed by their arrogance and fear. They are truly insulating themselves from corrective feedback. Why don’t they just rename the big apple Schoritown. This is really an attempt to insulate and isolate themselves.

Truth is, TEC is torn between the UN and the US. Being an ‘international entity’ TEC wants to have influence at the UN. Besides, the UN is where TEC and the Islamists have the most affirmation and credibility. The UN womens rights committee is chaired by an Islamist. How is that for droll and ironic?

Comment Policy: We pride ourselves on having some of the most open, honest debate anywhere. However, we do have a few rules that we enforce strictly. They are: No over-the-top profanity, no racial or ethnic slurs, and no threats real or implied of physical violence. Please see this post for more explanation, and the posts here, here, and here for advice on becoming a valued commenter as opposed to an ex-commenter. Although we rarely do so, we reserve the right to remove or edit comments, as well as suspend users' accounts, solely at the discretion of site administrators. Since we try to err on the side of open debate, you may sometimes see comments which you believe strain the boundaries of our rules. Comments are the opinions of visitors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Stand Firm site administrators or Gri5th Media, LLC.